Question: If the sales tax in your city is $13.8\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$140$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${13.8\%} \times {\$140} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $13.8\%$ is equivalent to $13.8 \div 100$ $13.8 \div 100 = 0.138$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.138$ $\times$ $$140$ = $$19.32$ You would pay $$19.32$ in sales tax.